"We didn't do anything incredibly special today; we just didn't beat ourselves. Cal [Towey] had the big two-run homerun that was inside the pole down there. We played well defensively. We turned the tables a little bit, put some pressure on them."

"He got better as he went along. He started the game up in the strike zone quite a bit but really got going in the fourth and fifth. He was down a lot with his off-speed stuff. That's encouraging to see a guy correct his ship mid-game after he got off to a slow start."

On the fundamental execution late in the game:

"Late in the game we did some little things well. These games are tight and you have to play the game really well. When you see pitching like we've seen, it's going to be tough to score a bunch of runs."

On Ryan Smith entering the game with the two out, bases-loaded and getting a strikeout:

"He ran it to 3-2 and got a called third - that let us catch our breath a little bit."

"I just really try to compete and throw strikes, honestly. I didn't want it to get to 3-2 but it did - so it got kind of fun there for a minute. A lot of weight comes of your shoulders on a result like that."

On getting a win against a solid program:

"It's good for our confidence, especially with our hitters. Hopefully they can have some confidence after that big three-run eighth inning. I think it was good for everyone to play good defense and pitch well."

"Other than that 28-pitch first inning, everything I do out there is throw strikes and give us a chance to win. We talk about `so what' and `flush' it. I put that first inning in the past and moved on."